---
title: 'Head of Talent at Foundry Robotics Inc.'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/head-of-talent-foundry-robotics-inc-san-francisco-terq8j6fpkkw'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-10'
---

# Head of Talent at Foundry Robotics Inc.

- **Company:** Foundry Robotics Inc.
- **Location:** San Francisco, CA
- **Compensation:** $180k–$250k
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-08-05
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-10
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/foundry-robotics/881a2659-cffd-478a-9665-bbb567976a43

## Job description

## About Us

Foundry Robotics is building an AI-native robotics manufacturing company focused on deploying advanced assembly and production capability for leading robotics companies and national-security-critical hardware. Basically, we're building robots that build robots. We are reimagining manufacturing through advanced robotics. Our mission is to rebuild the American manufacturing industry as an AI-first, assembly-focused, dual-use contract manufacturer. We aim to empower manufacturers with intelligent, efficient, and adaptable robotic systems that redefine productivity and quality. As a founding member of our team, you will have a direct and significant impact on our product, culture, and ultimate success. This role is 100% in-person at our office in the Mission, SF.

## The Role

This role is for a Head of Talent who can build a recruiting function from first principles and then build the team that runs it. You will own hiring end to end — strategy, process, employer brand, and headcount planning — and hire, coach, and manage the recruiters and sourcers underneath you. You will be the in-house authority on how Foundry hires, and the person leadership trusts to fill the roles that determine whether we make our production commitments. We hire across an unusually wide surface: robotics researchers, mechanical and software engineers, manufacturing operators, technicians, and quality staff. You will be accountable for all of it.

## Key Responsibilities

- Own Foundry Robotics' talent strategy end to end, from headcount planning and role scoping with hiring managers to offer close
- Hire, manage, and develop a team of recruiters and sourcers, and build the infrastructure — ATS, scorecards, interview loops, comp bands — they operate inside
- Build repeatable, high-signal interview processes for technical, manufacturing, and operations roles, and hold hiring managers to them
- Own the executive and hard-to-fill searches personally, including senior research and manufacturing leadership
- Build the top-of-funnel: sourcing strategy, employer brand, university and technician pipelines, and referral programs
- Own recruiting data and report hiring performance — pipeline health, time to hire, pass-through rates, offer acceptance — to leadership on a regular cadence
- Partner with Finance and leadership on compensation philosophy, leveling, and equity bands
- Serve as the steward of Foundry's culture and hiring bar as the team scales

## What We're Looking For

- 8+ years of recruiting experience, including 3+ years leading and managing recruiters
- Demonstrated experience building or materially rebuilding a recruiting function, not just operating inside a mature one
- Track record hiring deep technical talent — robotics, hardware, or software engineers — and closing candidates against competing offers
- Experience hiring non-engineering operational talent at volume: technicians, operators, and shop floor staff
- Fluency in recruiting systems and metrics. You can instrument a funnel, diagnose where it's leaking, and fix it
- Strong enough technical judgment to scope a role with an engineering lead and screen candidates credibly without a hiring manager in the room
- Equally effective in a comp discussion with the founders and on the shop floor talking to a technician about second shift
- Bias toward action, scrappy problem solving, and moving fast without lowering the bar

## Nice to Have (Not Required)

- Experience recruiting in robotics, aerospace, defense, or another hardware-rich industry
- Experience hiring into ITAR-controlled or cleared programs, and familiarity with the constraints that come with them
- Experience owning people ops adjacencies — onboarding, performance, or early HR infrastructure — in addition to recruiting
- Experience at an early-stage company where the talent function was built rather than inherited

Why Join Us? This is one of the only places where world-class manufacturing operators, mechanical engineers, robotics researchers, and software engineers sit in the same room, building production systems together. We are committed to being deeply embedded in the U.S. industrial base. Our focus is simple: build adaptive robotic assembly systems that make American manufacturing scalable, resilient, and competitive again. The base salary range for this full-time position in the location of San Francisco is: $180,000 to $250,000 USD Compensation packages at Foundry Robotics for eligible roles include base salary, equity, and benefits. The range displayed on each job posting reflects the minimum and maximum target for new hire salaries for the position, determined by work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, interview performance, and relevant education or training. Foundry Robotics employees in eligible roles are also granted equity based compensation, subject to Board of Director approval. You'll also receive benefits including, but not limited to: Comprehensive health, dental and vision coverage, and generous PTO.

Foundry Robotics is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate all applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic.

## About Foundry Robotics Inc.

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Foundry Robotics is an AI-first, assembly-focused robotics company rebuilding American manufacturing with advanced automation and production systems.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Seed stage)
- **Headquarters**: San Francisco, California, USA
- **Founded**: 2026
- **Founders**: Adarsh Kulkarni

## Core Business
- **Primary industry/industries**: Robotics Engineering, Advanced Manufacturing, Defense & Dual-Use Contract Manufacturing
- **Target customers**: B2B, primarily defense contractors, hardware startups, and industrial companies needing flexible, small-to-medium scale assembly
- **Mission or purpose statement**: "AI-first, assembly-focused robotics that rebuilds American manufacturing—faster, more flexible, and ready for what’s next."

## Products & Services
- **Battery Pack Assembly**: Small to medium-scale battery pack assembly that streamlines the path from prototype to full-scale production, enabling faster iteration and secure domestic manufacturing.
- **Advanced Hardware Sub-Assemblies**: Rapid construction of complex mechanical assemblies for next-generation and legacy hardware using AI-driven robotic cells, eliminating the need for bespoke factories.
- **Defense & Dual-Use Robotics**: Modular robotic cells for defense and dual-use applications that enable rapid assembly of critical infrastructure through secure and resilient American supply chains.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not disclosed
- **Key Metric**: Total Funding — $19M in seed funding (announced April 2026)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Khosla Ventures, Hanabi Capital, Red Glass Ventures, Zero Shot Fund
- **Growth Signals**: The company has grown from 14 employees to over 20 builders in a short period, with a monthly headcount growth rate of +26.7%. It opened its San Francisco HQ in May 2026, just 21 days after the space was still being opened with a sledgehammer. Website traffic is growing +128.4% month-over-month.

## Competitive Advantages
- **AI-first, assembly-focused approach**: Unlike traditional contract manufacturers that require bespoke factories, Foundry uses modular, AI-driven robotic cells that can be rapidly reconfigured for different products.
- **Dual-use capability**: Serving both defense and commercial applications, which opens up a large addressable market and provides mission-driven work.
- **Speed of iteration**: The company can go from prototype to full-scale production faster than traditional manufacturers, as demonstrated by opening its HQ in under a month.
- **Team pedigree**: The founding team includes talent from Tesla, Blue Origin, Scale AI, Google DeepMind, and the UPenn GRASP Lab.

## Strategic Focus
- **Scaling the engineering and manufacturing platform**: The company is actively hiring across robotics, AI, software, operations, and quality engineering roles to scale its platform.
- **Rebuilding American manufacturing**: Foundry is focused on creating a domestic, secure, and resilient supply chain for critical infrastructure, particularly for defense and dual-use applications.
- **Rapid iteration and deployment**: The company prioritizes speed, moving from concept to production floor in weeks, not years.

## Why Work Here
- **Mission-driven work**: Employees directly contribute to rebuilding American manufacturing and strengthening national security through advanced robotics.
- **High-caliber team**: The team includes builders from Tesla, Blue Origin, Scale AI, Google DeepMind, and the UPenn GRASP Lab, offering a steep learning curve and exposure to cutting-edge technology.
- **Hybrid workspace**: The company operates a hybrid model with a strong in-office presence at its San Francisco HQ, which includes a factory floor where robots are built and deployed.
- **Early-stage impact**: As a seed-stage company, employees have significant ownership and influence over the product, culture, and direction of the company.
- **Rapid growth environment**: With a 26.7% monthly headcount growth rate and a focus on scaling, the company offers fast-paced career growth opportunities.

## Sources
1. [foundryrobotics.ai](https://foundryrobotics.ai/)
2. [LinkedIn - Foundry Robotics](https://www.linkedin.com/company/foundry-robotics)
3. [Built In - Foundry Robotics](https://builtin.com/company/foundry-robotics)
4. [Remix Reality - Foundry Robotics Raises $19 Million](https://www.remixreality.com/foundry-robotics-raises-19-million-to-build-ai-first-robotics-for-manufacturing/)
5. [Ashby - Foundry Robotics Careers](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/foundry-robotics)

## Other roles at Foundry Robotics Inc.

- [Founding Marketing Lead](https://feeny.ai/job/founding-marketing-lead-foundry-robotics-inc-san-francisco-72p3hewtt90m) — San Francisco, CA
- [Network Engineer, Autonomous Factory](https://feeny.ai/job/network-engineer-autonomous-factory-foundry-robotics-inc-san-francisco-d0q4ta3kfnwv) — San Francisco, CA
- [Infrastructure Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/infrastructure-engineer-foundry-robotics-inc-san-francisco-jhhav7qbccvg) — San Francisco, CA
- [Physical AI Deployment Strategist](https://feeny.ai/job/physical-ai-deployment-strategist-foundry-robotics-inc-san-francisco-zze5bv4das57) — San Francisco, CA
- [Head of Security](https://feeny.ai/job/head-of-security-foundry-robotics-inc-san-francisco-352vqv4gk28v) — San Francisco, CA
- [Senior Robotics Control Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-robotics-control-engineer-foundry-robotics-inc-san-francisco-h08vzav6496s) — San Francisco, CA
- [Lead Robotics Platform Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/lead-robotics-platform-engineer-foundry-robotics-inc-san-francisco-xzw9gcg2b008) — San Francisco, CA
- [Staff Full-Stack Software Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/staff-full-stack-software-engineer-foundry-robotics-inc-san-francisco-zaamfcr5f34y) — San Francisco, CA
- [Senior Quality Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-quality-engineer-foundry-robotics-inc-san-francisco-r3bjndngc4xy) — San Francisco, CA
- [Head of Supply Chain](https://feeny.ai/job/head-of-supply-chain-foundry-robotics-inc-san-francisco-01ct9d3hjbtt) — San Francisco, CA